Originally Posted by
bensyd
Won't that add quite a different flavour profile to the dish? If I'm making a ragu or similar adding sake or Chinese cooking wine will have a distinctly different flavour to red or white wine wouldn't it? I have some Chinese cooking wine in the pantry that I use when marinating fish.
That’s why I stick to Japanese sake and not Chinese cooking wine (which is easier to find and cheaper).
Sake in food is as non-descript tasting an alcohol as is possible. I do use it in ragus and risottos - admittedly, not a huge amount, am less generous than I would be with wine or dry vermouth in these dishes - and I honestly don’t perceive much of a flavour change, more that all the other flavours and ingredients harmonise together better; for instance, a little alcohol brings out certain flavours in tomatoes that otherwise remain dormant.
I once tried getting a Taiwanese rice wine (Michiu) that I hoped would be more similar to Japanese sake than the golden Shaoxing cooking wine, but the taste was too assertive.
Japanese sake hits the sweet spot for neutrality. Not found anything else like it.